Bins across parts of England are reportedly “overflowing” with rubbish from the festive period due to Covid-related staff shortages. London, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Buckinghamshire are among the areas where councillors have warned that bin collections are being scaled back because of staff sickness. In Enfield, Conservative councillor Stephanos Ioannou said: “I’ve been driving round my ward and seeing bins overflowing and Christmas trees are left outside.” He said he has received double the number of complaints about missed collections that he would usually receive at this time of year. “Over the Christmas period, usually I get on average 30 emails a week on waste services. I checked my inbox yesterday … and had about 50 or 60.” Chelmsford city council said 23 members of staff were absent and that three days of food waste collections were cancelled. North Somerset council, meanwhile, said it was unable to collect 1,000 recycling bins on New Year’s Eve because crews remained “stretched due to staff sickness”. Declan Wilson, a Liberal Democrat councillor, said Gloucester has been faced with “terrible problems” as a result of a combination of Covid and Brexit. He said that recycling collections were stopped entirely over Christmas as bin collectors working closely in small teams pass the virus to one another. “The reason for it is driver shortages and Covid as well … it hasn’t been great,” he said. Several London boroughs have announced there may be delays in their services in the future. Haringey council warned that “uniquely challenging times” had affected its workforce and Newham council has temporarily suspended bulky waste collection as a result of “higher than normal levels of staff absence”. In Manchester, green food and garden recycling bin collections have been halted until further notice because of staff isolating. Residents have been told to put food waste into general waste bins and to keep hold of garden waste until collections start up again. In Birmingham, the city council apologised for missed collections over the festive period, blaming crews being affected by Covid. Earlier, ministers had requested that public sector leaders set up contingency plans for worst-case scenarios of up to a quarter of staff being off work. Asked whether such shortages were likely, health minister Edward Argar told Times Radio: “We model a range of scenarios up to things we think are highly unlikely, but you still do it because that’s what a responsible government does in preparing for all eventualities.” Meanwhile, the Local Government Association (LGA), which represents councils across England, said crews have been strongly affected by the rise of Omicron and warned the problem “may get worse”. An LGA spokesperson said: “As cases of Covid-19 rise in light of the Omicron variant, councils are concerned that these existing staffing issues may get worse.” They also called for workers to be prioritised for Covid tests. Gloucester city council and Enfield council did not respond immediately to requests for comment.